“I stack tables and lock doors for twelve dollars an hour.”
“That isn’t what she means.”
“What does she mean?”
Savannah dropped the grabber onto the concrete.
“She means you act better than everybody.”
Jordan looked toward the maintenance employees working nearby.
“You got mad because I asked you to clean your own trash.”
One grounds worker looked over.
Savannah saw him.
Her face changed.
Jordan realized she had embarrassed her in front of the exact people Savannah was required to work beside.
Savannah stepped closer.
“You know what? Just stay away from me.”
Jordan blinked.
“You walked over here.”
Then she left.
The violation was documented.
The university warned Savannah that another deliberate breach could result in temporary suspension.
Winter break arrived before anything else happened.
Jordan returned home.
She worked at the medical-supply warehouse again, watched terrible Christmas movies with her sister, helped her mother repaint the kitchen, and slowly recognized how much tension she had carried at school.
Marlene noticed too.
“You look tired.”
“I worked all day.”
“Not that.”
Jordan glanced toward her.
Mothers were unfairly skilled at detecting exhaustion their children had disguised as normal.
Eventually Jordan explained enough.
The retaliation.
Coffee.
Jokes.
Security reports.
Route changes.
Marlene stopped chopping onions halfway through.
“Do you feel safe there?”
Jordan hated the question.
“Mostly.”
Her mother set down the knife.
“Mostly safe is not safe.”
Jordan looked away.
“I can handle them.”
Marlene walked around the island.
“That is not what I asked.”
“I know.”
“Baby, you have spent your whole life thinking asking for less help makes you more independent.”
Jordan gave a small smile.
“This sounds like a speech.”
“It is.”
Marlene touched her shoulder.
“You do not get extra points because you can survive something nobody should be doing to you.”
Jordan laughed despite herself.
“Who wrote that?”
“Me.”
“Needs editing.”
“Go upstairs.”
Jordan remembered the point anyway.
When the spring semester started, she made one decision.
She would follow every university restriction.
Document every violation.
Report anything that felt threatening.
But she would stop shrinking her campus to make Savannah comfortable.
Jordan returned to the main café.
Used the central quad.
Worked events she wanted.
Sat wherever there was an empty table.
January became almost normal.
Then Savannah lost an opportunity she had assumed was hers.
The university offered a competitive Civic Leadership Fellowship that included a paid summer placement with a nonprofit organization and mentoring from senior administrators. Savannah planned to apply because she hoped to work in public relations after graduation.
Conduct probation made students temporarily ineligible.
She discovered that after submitting her application.
Asha heard what happened from somebody who shared a communications class with Brooke.
“Savannah says you ruined her career.”
Jordan continued typing.
“I didn’t create the fellowship policy.”